Neibblelung
Neibblelung Many call the Neibblelung the height of human accomplishment. Before the fall, Neibblelung had unparalleled cultural achievements in the pursuits of writing, art, magic, technology, and music. Utilizing Kysim Technology, Neibblelung created a near utopia where humans could live lives of luxury, leisure, creativity, and discovery. Founded in ID 6487, the city of Neibblelung grew quickly. By ID 7156, they forced the Giant King into vassal status, bringing all of the lands south of Jasmund and East of Rietza into their orbit. In ID 7462 a magic curse spread across Neibblelung city, instantly killing most of the population and raising them as mindless zombies. Magic users had some innate defense against the curse, but even they were not untouched, turning into Half-Dead. Early History (ID 6487 - 6801) Found in ID 6487 by King Huss the Builder of Jasmund as the summer seat of his family, Neibblelung was chosen for its abundant fresh water, fertile soil, and stunning view. When King Huss died, his third son inherited the castle and village. Over the next three centuries Neibblelung grew and prospered. In ID 6801 the "Mad King" Dammerung Huss was overthrown by his advisers. Neibblelung was then ruled by a council of six archmages who declared the former kingdom to be an independent Arcanocracy City-State. The Kysim Technology Revolution (ID 7044 - 7156) In ID 7044 the arcane academies of Neibblelung discovered a process to refine otherwise useless kysim shards into fuel for powerful spells. This event had two major ramifications. First, magical technology became ubiquitous throughout the City-State. Second, Neibblelung entered its first major period of outward expansion to secure as many Kysim crystal deposits as possible. During this time Herchdall was founded to defend Neibblelung from the kingdoms of Jasmund, the fortress of Oldenberg was constructed to protect a particularly rich Kysim Crystal deposit, and the region now called the borderlands fell under Neibblelung's control. This period of expansion ended in ID 7156 when the Giant King capitulated to the council of six. The Golden Age of Neibblelung (ID 7156 - 7462) With the end of the wars of conquest, Neibblelung entered a period of internal development. A series of large Kysim Crystals were installed along the Geistwasser river and Jasmund border, allowing the archmages to use magic to defend their borders. Arcane golems were constructed to mine and refine Kysim, reap and sow crops, raise and butcher animals, and see to most repetitive tasks. A servitor race of Gremlins were created to operate and maintenance the machinery. This freed the human population to focus on cultural pursuits. During this time the worship of Gottes fell by the wayside as secular humanism spread throughout the populous. During this time masterpieces of music and art were created by the people of Neibblelung, along with unparalleled architectural achievements, pieces of great literature and poetry, and unrivaled Aether manipulation. Over the years Neibblelung became highly insular and xenophobic, closing their borders to all foreign trade and immigration. Aether Sieve Technology (ID 7458) Shortly before the fall Neibblelung, the archmages discovered a way to create technology that could run directly off raw Aether, rendering Kysim technology obsolete. This new technology was clean, low impact, and easy to use, ending the need to limit technological growth based on the availability of Kysim Crystals. The Fall of Neibblelung (ID 7462) Only a few of the Half-Dead know what caused the fall of Neibblelung, and they do not share these facts easily. What is known is that a curse of undeath swept across the land, killing most of the people near the capital and transforming them into the hungry dead. Those that could defend themselves were transformed into Half-Dead. The Gremlin servitors were unaffected by the curse. Before fleeing for their lives they opted to flood the city, trapping millions of the hungry dead, and thus mitigating the damage to the surrounding regions. The Curse of Undeath (ID 7462 - Present) The early years of the curse were unmitigated horror. Those people far enough from the capital survived, but were soon set upon by the dead and Half-Dead alike. The technology they had come to rely on slowly stopped working as the refined Kysim supplies were exhausted. Millions died from the undead attacks, starvation, and opportunistic violence. A Jasmunder named Sir Conrad Huss, a relative of the first king of Neibbelung, gathered a force of knights from Jasmund to draw off and hopefully end the undead invasion of the north. This group, now called the Knights of St Conrad, selflessly battled the undead in the name of Gottes, rallied the surviving locals, and reinvigorated their long lost faith. The knights found the last remaining defense crystal at Herchdall, and built a fortress around it, hoping to one day strike out and end the undead threat. The city of Neibblelung is now deserted. Only a few enter those cursed lands, hoping to find some valuable relic of a once great people or some answers to what might have caused this calamity. Almost none have returned.